


Planning for the Future

by MaidenM



Series: Ferdibert Parenthood Adventures [1]
Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Ferdinand would be a good dad, M/M, Post-War, Soft Hubert von Vestra, very indulgent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-09
Updated: 2020-07-09
Packaged: 2021-03-04 20:55:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,921
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25172740
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaidenM/pseuds/MaidenM
Summary: “Ah, forgive me. I should have phrased my question differently. What I mean is…” he fell silent for a moment, Hubert’s eyes regarded him as Ferdinand lined up the words in his head in a proper order. “What I meant is, do you feel like anything is missing? Any wishes, any… desires you feel are unfulfilled?” Hubert raised an eyebrow as a small blush graced the Prime Minister’s cheeks.“Are you talking about sex?” Hubert asked with a smirk, delighting in how the blush deepened as Ferdinand’s shoulders stiffened and his eyes grew wide.“N-no! I--, Hubert for goodness sake--”
Relationships: Ferdinand von Aegir/Hubert von Vestra
Series: Ferdibert Parenthood Adventures [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1984063
Comments: 18
Kudos: 186





	Planning for the Future

**Author's Note:**

> You know, once in a while I want to go to bed and not jolt awake at 2 am with a concept that proceeds to take over my life. Anyway, unrelated question; do you ever think about how many of Ferdinand's endings mention him becoming a dad? Cause I think about that a lot.

Hubert liked looking over his agenda each morning. It was grounding, to look over the list and see everything line up neatly, each event taking up a certain amount of time and allowing him to envision how the day might go should everything proceed as planned. Paperwork in the morning, a debriefing with his agents before noon, assisting Lady Edelgard before lunch and preparing for afternoon meetings that would sadly leave him with more paperwork until late in the evening. He made a point these days to include a suitable amount of time in the evenings for some quality time with Ferdinand, even if it was common that both of them brought their work home with them, but tonight it seemed he wouldn’t have such a opportunity. If he thought about it, maybe what brought him such comfort about his day-to-day planning was the normalcy of it. It reminded him that the war was over, that for the first time in his life he could sometimes look forward to lazy evenings after a stressful day.

Peace. Routine. He liked it. Unaccustomed to it as he was.

That being said, he was not about to allow himself to go rusty. He still prided himself on his work-ethic, and it was with this in mind that he reviewed his trusted agenda on this peaceful morning as he and Ferdinand had breakfast together. He could feel Ferdinand’s amber eyes upon him as he made small notes about asking the chefs for a few extra apple tarts as Dorothea was scheduled to visit Lady Edelgard over lunch today.

“Hubert?” Ferdinand asked suddenly, pausing as he nibbled on a berry scone. “Are you happy with how our lives are?”

The question caught him off guard, and he looked up at the redhead with an eyebrow raised.

“Of course. What sort of question is that to ask?”

Ferdinand smiled sheepishly, giving a small cough as he dabbed his lips with a napkin.

“Ah, forgive me. I should have phrased my question differently. What I mean is…” he fell silent for a moment, Hubert’s eyes regarded him as Ferdinand lined up the words in his head in a proper order. “What I meant is, do you feel like anything is missing? Any wishes, any… desires you feel are unfulfilled?” Hubert raised an eyebrow as a small blush graced the Prime Minister’s cheeks.

“Are you talking about sex?” Hubert asked with a smirk, delighting in how the blush deepened as Ferdinand’s shoulders stiffened and his eyes grew wide.

“N-no! I--, Hubert for goodness sake--”

“I jest, my love. Please calm down,” Hubert chuckled, moving his foot under the table to nudge against Ferdinand’s in a comforting gesture. “To answer your question; no, I do not feel like anything is missing.”

“Truly?” Ferdinand asked, and for a moment Hubert though he looked… disappointed?

“Truly,” he reassured his husband. “I struggle to think of anything more fulfilling than serving her Majesty, or more satisfying than waking up next to you.” At this Ferdinand smiled softly, though once more Hubert couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off with his reaction. “Why do you ask? Is something amiss?”

Ferdinand shook his head. “Nothing is wrong, though I have been thinking how I, perhaps even we, ought to delegate some of our workload to our subordinates. I would like…” A beat of silence. “I would like to spend more time with you, as husbands.”

_Ah,_ Hubert though. A reoccuring worry of his was that Ferdinand felt neglected in their marriage, though he was a bit confused at Ferdinand’s suggestion.

“While I don’t mind spending more time with you,” he began carefully, “I don’t think delegating our work is a good idea.”

This time Ferdinand’s shoulders definitely sunk at his words.

“Is that so?”

“Yes, think about it,” Hubert spoke as he reached out his hand across the table to take Ferdinand’s and soothe whatever had been stung from his words. “We both love our work. There are days you come to bed long past midnight with a smile on your face because you finalized a proposition or finally figured out a way to balance taxes for a project. I, as we all know, despise relinquishing control and my work handles many delicate things. Who could I possibly trust enough to ease my workload? I imagine we’d both spend our newfound free time fretting over what to do with our hands.”

“I… yes, I suppose you are correct about that,” Ferdinand sighed, though Hubert was relieved to see a smile playing on his lips. “Leaving things for others is in neither of our natures.”

“I’m glad you see my point,” Hubert smiled and pulled Ferdinand’s hands up to kiss his knuckles. “As far as I am concerned, I want for nothing.”

A comfortable silence fell over them, but as the day went on Hubert couldn’t ignore the gnawing sensation that he should have said something else.

***

As the day went on, the feeling that he had missed something did not abate. It sat at the back of his mind, poking an unsteady rhythm like idle fingers on a wooden table, irritating him as it became part of his day. Was Ferdinand unhappy? No, he trusted his husband to tell him as much if he was. Or perhaps more accurately, he knew that if Ferdinand was unhappy Hubert was almost always the first to know especially if it had something to do with Hubert himself. Had something happened? His agents would have alerted him if it had, he was sure so that was a unlikely possibility...

The thoughts bounced in his head every moment he found himself relaxing, so he made a point to focus on whatever task he had before him to silence them. There were times it did not work as well as intended.

“Hubert, have you honestly peeled all those grapes?” Dorothea’s voice interrupted him as he did precisely what she had accused him of. He looked down from his hands, at the bowl half full of very wet and naked grapes he had barely noticed he had finished.

“I have,” he answers, keeping his voice firm even as his mind came up blank as he thought of any reason why he would do such a thing. In front of him, Edelgard frowned.

“I don’t recall asking for peeled grapes. Or peeled anything for that matter.”

“I hear it is all the rage in Derdiue,” Hubert lied smoothly as he shuffled a plate filled with thin and discarded grape skin out of his sight. Dorothea raised an eyebrow at him but quickly shrugged before turning back to Edelgard.

“So, as I was saying. Everything went perfectly yesterday. I really wish you could have come with us, Edie. It would have meant a lot to the people to see you there.”

“I know, and I did really wish to go if I’m being honest. The people need to know that their government cares, that’s why I sent Ferdinand in my stead,” Edelgard spoke, a sigh falling from her lips. “I strongly doubt I could have done as well as he did however, I hear everyone loved him.”

“Oh yes, you should have seen them!” Dorothea laughed, “They followed him all afternoon, holding his hand, clamouring for his attention, climbing him like a tree…”

“I’m sorry, what?” Hubert asked, face blank as his mind conjured images he very much did not want in his head.

“Have you not been listening, Hubert? The charity event the opera hosted! The War Orphan charity fund!” Dorothea said, a slightly disappointed frown on her face. “We made a point to distribute the donations to the orphanages directly, Ferdinand came with both as a donor and a government representative. The children loved him!”

_Oh,_ Hubert though.

“I had the opportunity to speak to him as he returned to the palace,” Edelgard smiled, “He was so happy, he said he truly found joy seeing the children able to laugh and smile around him.”

_Oh!_ Hubert thought again.

“Oh Edie, you should have been there. There was a little girl who was so enamored with him, she fell asleep in his lap and he sat there for an hour refusing to move in case he disturbed her,” Dorothea sighed making Edelgard chuckle at the image.

“There are times I think Ferdinand would make a great father. Hubert, do you and Ferdinand ever talk about--” Edelgard started but as she turned towards Hubert’s seat she found it strangely empty and behind them the door swung slightly as the sound of quick footsteps down the hallway grew more and more distant.

***

After running through what must have been half the palace - _Flames, who decided the damn building had to be so damn large?_ \- Hubert finally realized he should have looked in the first place that came to mind; the stables. Ferdinand did so enjoy a midday ride before a late lunch and in his eagerness the fact had entirely slipped Hubert’s mind. In his defence, his mind was racing almost as much as he was at the moment.

“Ferdinand!” he yelled out as the familiar mane of ginger hair glowing in the sunlight of a clear day came into his vision just outside the stables. Ferdinand turned, surprised and alarmed at his husbands sudden appearance. He seemed to calm down slightly as Hubert gracelessly came to a stop in front of him, breath heavy and wheezing as he leaned heavily on his own knees.

“Ferdie-- _haaa,_ Ferdinand, I was, _haa,_ I was looking for-- _haa,_ sorry, stairs, _haaa_ …” Hubert breathed, face flushed and vision swimming. Had his stamina really gone so bad after the war?

“Hubert, what is wrong?” Ferdinand asked with no small amount of concern in his voice. “Did something happen, do you need--?”

“I can learn!” Hubert shouted, attempting to straighten up so he could look at his beloved properly. “I can learn how to delegate!”

The look on Ferdinand’s face was near indescribable. As realisation on what Hubert meant slowly dawned upon him Hubert though he could see the confusion, surprise, awe and love all mingling in his eyes as Hubert took a few steadying gulps of air.

“I’m sure I can,” Hubert spoke between breaths, “I’m not saying it will be easy but… I can definitely learn how to make more time for other things. For you and for… for whatever you wish our lives to include.”

Ferdinand looked at him, unmoving. He barely seemed to breathe even as Hubert’s chest kept heaving and for a moment Hubert though he had misunderstood.

Then, with just a second to notice the wetness at the corner of Ferdinand’s eyes, he was pulled into a tight embrace.

“I wasn’t sure how to ask,” Ferdinand whispered against his ear. “I wasn’t sure if it was something you wanted.”

Hubert returned the embrace, breathing in the scent of Ferdinand’s musk after his ride and the scent of his hair. “I want you. I want anything that brings you joy. I want to share in that joy,” he said, hoping he finally said the right words. Ferdinand laughed quietly as he pulled away from him.

“There is a lot of things to consider before we can make a choice. Do you have time to talk about it later tonight?”

Hubert reviewed his agenda for the day once more. Meetings, notes, paperwork, apologizing to her Majesty for running out so suddenly…

Although…

“I can make time,” he promised and sealed that promise with a kiss.


End file.
